By Jessie Raynor, Akron Area Arts Alliance Director Summit Artspace visitors can view their city through artistic eyes at Streetscapes, Akron in Plein Air, an exhibition of paintings and photography inspired by our urban landscape. Curated by designer and plein air artist Brian Shellito, the show features works done in open air by 16 local painters on an extremely hot, muggy weekend in July. Their creations are on display through September 17 along with vibrant urban photography by David Bryan Lile.

Guest judges Mitchell Kahan, director of the Akron Art Museum, and Meg Harris, owner of Harris Stanton Gallery, selected the winners from among many interesting oil, watercolor, acrylic and pastel paintings submitted. The Beacon Journal newspaper and Ohio.com sponsored prizes, including a $525 print and web promotional package for the first prize artist. En plein air painting became popular in the early 19th century in both Europe and America. “Artists made people realize how beautiful their city was,” said best-in-show winner Mina Huang. “We can do that in Akron as well.”

As a companion exhibit, Lile has displayed 17 large, bold, intensely colored and highly textured photographs, which are digitally manipulated and printed on metallic photo paper. “Bold color is the crucial element that inspires my viewers to take pause and see beauty and energy within commonplace urban landscapes,” Lile explained.

A growing downtown Akron art center, Summit Artspace is a project of the Akron Area Arts Alliance in cooperation with Summit County government. Its gallery is dedicated to displaying the talents of local artists.

With a generous capital grant from the Knight Foundation, AAAA recently renovated the second floor of Summit Artspace to develop a collaborative business center for emerging arts groups. The art deco building was built in 1927 by Charles and John Knight to house their first newspaper.